Current events involving politics, political office holders, political candidates, world events, local events, crime and other public affairs issues are discussed. Business news items as well as science and technology issues may appear.

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Saturday, October 31, 2015

Catalonia’s push for independence from Spain is illegitimate, as the region has not been recognized by the United Nations as a non-autonomous territory, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told Spanish media.

Four UN staff members have been “dismissed” after storing and sharing pornographic images including those of children, a UN report revealed. It also mentions one member having been fired for transporting over 170 kg worth of pot.

These five cases are the most outrageous out of 75 disciplinary and “criminal behavior” matters that the United Nations has listed in its report that came to light on Friday.

The venomous caterpillar that stung Marci Montgomery in her Coral Gables garden in July has a nickname — “The $2,600 Worm” — because that’s the amount of the bill she received for about four hours of treatment in the emergency room.

Montgomery, 62, went to Coral Gables Hospital after a Florida puss caterpillar delivered a sting so painful that it felt as though she’d broken her hand.

Last night on "Real Time," HBO host Bill Maher described himself as a "proud liberal," but said it's "crazy" that President Obama and his administration won't criticize Islamic practices or use the term "Islamic extremism."

Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) agreed, saying that "words mean things" and are important to identifying and defeating the enemy.

Let’s take a look at the latest bit of evidence presented by the left to prove that law enforcement in America is nothing more than a racist conspiracy against black folks. The video went viral last night under the hashtag #AssaultAtSpringValleyHigh (also the title of the next Jason Statham movie), and it shows, according to the Black Lives Matter camp, a bigoted white cop launching an unprovoked attack against a black high school student — an “innocent child,” as they put it — by slamming her to the floor and “throwing her across the room.” The officer, Ben Fields, has been placed on leave and is now beinginvestigated by the feds for Civil Rights abuses.

Almost 30 women who are being held in a Texas immigration facility went on a hunger strike this week to protest both their imprisonment and treatment.

According to Grassroots Leadership, a civil rights organization that seeks to eradicate for-profit private prisons and jail facilities, 27 women are participating in a hunger strike at the T Hutto Detention Center in Taylor, Texas. The organization announced on their website that the women have been on the strike since Wednesday and only have one demand — immediate release.

Virginia Tech students held a funeral Friday afternoon for something beloved to the students — Halloween.

After Virginia Tech’s student government embarked on a campaign to inform students of “harmful costumes” for the Halloween holiday — the “My Culture is Not a Costume” campaign — students involved with the Young Americans for Freedom, a conservative student group, decided to poke fun at the “bizarre guide.” The mock funeral featured an open casket where students could place their “inappropriate costumes” into for the burial.

As former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton continued to blame the attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi on a controversial YouTube video, a State Department official at Embassy Tripoli in Libya wrote an email to D.C. colleges that urged them to be “cautious” in their messaging just a few days after the attack.

According to the email from the official in Libya on Sept. 14, 2012, “it is becoming increasingly clear that the series of events in Benghazi was much more terrorist attack than a protest which escalated into violence.” The email was released Friday in the first dump since Clinton testified in front of the House Select Committee on Benghazi committee last week.

In a wide-ranging interview on SiriusXM radio’s “Opie and Jimmy” show on Friday, former CBS News anchor Dan Rather talked about his 44-year career at the network — a network which he ultimately likened to the Soviet Union.

Wrapping up the interview, Gregg “Opie” Hughes asked Rather about his banishment from CBS News and his inability to be able to even walk into “Black Rock” — the CBS headquarters building on 6th Avenue in New York City.

Fall Back: 5 Unusual Ways to Celebrate the End of Daylight Saving Time

http://blog.allstate.com/fall-back-5-unusual-ways-to-celebrate-the-end-of-daylight-saving-time/Are you ready to turn back your clock at 2 a.m. Nov. 1? With the end of Daylight Saving Time just around the corner, there’s plenty more to do than adjust the clocks in your home and vehicle. From tips on how to adjust your bedtime to finding just the right…Allstatehttp://blog.allstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/clock_in_leaves_istock.jpg

Are you ready to turn back your clock at 2 a.m. Nov. 1? With the end of Daylight Saving Time just around the corner, there’s plenty more to do than adjust the clocks in your home and vehicle. From tips on how to adjust your bedtime to finding just the right film to watch after the end of Daylight Saving Time, there are a few ways you can prepare for the change in time.

1. Rise and Shine

Getting everyone in your household adjusted to the change in time doesn’t have to be a time-consuming task. If you want to get a jumpstart on the change in time, you can adjust your sleep schedule. According to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, you should move bedtime and wakeup time by 15 minutes later every other day starting about a week in advance of the end of Daylight Saving Time. Got kids or a pet? Then remember that small children and Fido can’t tell time. For a smoother transition, Dr. Marty Becker writes in The Huffington Post that dog owners should start by moving back mealtimes by about 15 minutes every day in advance of the end of Daylight Saving Time. You may also adjust your dog’s bathroom breaks so that your dog—and you—can sleep in a bit after the change in time. The result? The entire family can be on the same sleep schedule.

2. Make Time Traveling Part of Your Weekend

Setting your clock back by one hour this weekend is likely the closest you’ll ever get to time travel. So why not do some armchair time traveling by reading a book or two? NPR recommends several books focused on traveling back in time, with Madeleine L’Engle’s “A Wrinkle in Time” and H.G. Wells’ “The Time Machine” among the titles on the list. If you’d prefer watching a film in honor of the occasion, then check out the recommendations from Rolling Stone, which include the 1985 hit “Back to the Future.”

3. Pack Your Bags

Desperate times can call for desperate measures. If you truly dislike adjusting your clocks so much that you want to completely escape the tradition, there are a few U.S. states and territories that do not “fall back” in the autumn. As noted by The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Hawaii and most of Arizona do not observe Daylight Saving Time. NIST also notes other places that don’t tinker with time include Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

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4. Explore the Concept of Time

You may know to turn your clock back by one hour, but have you ever thought how the concept of time has evolved in history? If that’s the case, then make seeing a museum exhibit on the topic part of your weekend plans. For instance, there’s the American Clock & Watch Museum in Bristol, Connecticut, and the exhibit “Time and Navigation” at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

5. Take Care of Home Maintenance

When it comes to home maintenance, there’s more to do on Nov. 1 than turn back your clocks by one hour. The International Association of Fire Chiefs recommends changing batteries in smoke detectors when you change the clocks in your home. It’s also time to tackle that pile of expired food and medication you no longer need, with Good Housekeeping recommending that you clean out your medicine cabinet and pantry at the end of Daylight Saving Time. Other recommendations for home maintenance tasks to complete this weekend include turning your mattress and reversing ceiling fans.

Saying goodbye to Daylight Saving Time doesn’t have to be a dull experience. With some planning, you can welcome the change in time and have some fun along the way.

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

The $17.2 billion deal puts together the nation's second and third largest pharmacy chains that combined will have nearly 13,000 U.S. stores. That would catapult the merged company above CVS, which has 7,800 stores.

An infographic highlighting food purchases and programs that help feed those in need. Click to view a larger version.

USDA has programs and services that bring the bounty of American agriculture to people and communities across the country. One of the most impactful ways my agency, the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), fulfills its mission is through our USDA Foods purchase programs. Our food purchases begin with American farmers, ranchers, and fishermen, and end their journey on the tables of our nation’s schools, food banks, and communities.

AMS plays a central role in this supply chain that delivers about 2 billion pounds of domestically-grown and -processed food each year. That equates to about 52,000 semi-trucks full of food every year—enough trucks to stretch the length of Florida tip to tip!

These purchases support America’s agricultural producers by providing a reliable outlet for over 50 domestic food commodities; fruits, vegetables, specialty crops, meat, poultry, eggs, fish, cheese, other dairy products, grain, bakery, and oilseed products. When the need arises in many of these markets, our purchase program can quickly and efficiently remove surplus products from the marketplace. This service helps buffer domestic producers of these products from the effects of extreme supply or demand fluctuations.

But there is more to our role than just purchasing food—we are involved in the entire supply chain. These domestic commodities, produced and processed into a wide variety of USDA Foods, are delivered to federal food and nutrition assistance programs that are a vital component of our nation’s food safety net. These programs depend on USDA Foods to meet their needs, and AMS ensures the products are wholesome and meet high quality specifications. We also work closely with our approved suppliers and contractors to guarantee year-round deliveries.

In 2014, USDA delivered over 930 million pounds of food to state agencies for distribution to food banks, soup kitchens and other community organizations.

USDA Foods suppliers and contractors come in all shapes and sizes from small businesses and farmer-owned cooperatives to large processors—they all have an opportunity with USDA. Our annual industry meeting for USDA Foods contractors and suppliers brings together all our stakeholders in one place for valuable presentations and dynamic discussions about USDA Foods and AMS commodity purchase programs. Next week, for the first time ever, we’ll welcome the dairy and domestic grain, bakery and oilseed product vendors to our annual industry meeting in Arlington, Va., on Oct. 27 and Oct. 28.

We look forward to working with all of our USDA Foods contractors and suppliers to bring food from the farm to the table.

The Sound and Sensible projects educate producers and provide them with the tools and information resources needed to streamline certification, inspections, recordkeeping, and compliance. (Click to enlarge)

USDA’s National Organic Program is the bedrock regulatory program responsible for developing national standards for organically-produced agricultural products. These standards assure consumers that products with the USDA organic seal meet consistent, uniform standards. In addition to protecting the integrity of the organic seal through a rigorous certification process and oversight, we are committed to connecting organic farmers and businesses with USDA resources, including conservation assistance, access to loans and grants, funding for organic research and education, and mitigation of pest emergencies.

The USDA organic seal and the NOP program itself have helped organic producers and businesses achieve unprecedented levels of growth for organically produced goods. The retail market for organic products has nearly doubled in value since 2009 while USDA certified organic operations continue to grow year to year. USDA’s National Organic Program is a leading global standard and major factor in this success.

Last year, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service’s National Organic Program (NOP) made awards to 14 organizations to support the Sound and Sensible Initiative. Since then, these groups have worked with hundreds of farmers and livestock handlers nationwide to help them simplify and streamline organic certification and compliance. Now, USDA is ready to share the results of these projects, including an array of valuable tools and resources – templates, decision-making tools, trainings, guides, tip sheets, and videos – with the entire organic community, from certifying agents to certified organic operations, to producers who are considering organic certification for the first time.

All of the projects share a common goal – making organic certification more accessible, attainable, and affordable while maintaining high standards, ensuring compliance, and protecting organic integrity. These projects educate producers and provide them with tools and information resources needed to streamline certification, inspections, recordkeeping, and compliance.

Over the past year, the awarded organizations have helped more than 2,000 U.S. farmers, handlers, and producers by:

Engaging more than 50 farmers in peer partnership programs, including “farm walks” led by certified organic farmers to share best practices and a mentorship program that partnered newly certified producers with more experienced operations.

Over the next several months, these projects will have an even greater impact on the organic community, as the NOP will release more than 40 tools and resources resulting from the Sound and Sensible Initiative, including:

75 tip sheets or factsheets on the certification process and standards compliance

16 training presentations on a wide range of certification topics

15 informative videos on topics including inspection processes and the value of organic certification

Templates for certifiers, USDA field offices and other organizations to develop their own outreach programs, training workshops, and peer-to-peer programs for producers

We will release the products in several phases, grouped by theme and audience. With these valuable tools and resources, farmers and producers will be better able to understand the benefits of organic certification and decide whether organic certification is right for them.

Through the National Organic Program, USDA has helped organic farmers and businesses achieve $39 billion annually in U.S. retail sales. USDA’s commitment to supporting organic agriculture has been critical to the sector’s continued growth. In addition to protecting the integrity of the organic seal through a rigorous certification process and oversight, we are committed to connecting organic farmers and businesses with USDA resources, including conservation assistance, access to loans and grants, funding for organic research and education, and mitigation of pest emergencies.